160 ANATOMY AND DISEASES OF THE NECK. 



— heavy in hand, boring upon the bit, and unsafe. To remedy this, recourse is had, 

 and in the majority of cases without avail, to the martingale, against which the horse 

 is continually fighting, and which is often a complete annoyance to the rider. Such 

 a horse is almost useless for harness. 



Inseparable from this is another sad defect, so far as the beauty of the horse is 

 concerned; — he becomes ewe-necked ^ i. e. he has a neck like a ewe — not arched 

 above and straight below, until near to the head, but hollowed above and projecting 

 below ; and the neck rising low out of the chest, even lower, sometimes, than the 

 points of the shoulders. There can scarcely be anything more unsightly in a liorse. 

 His head can never be got fairly down; and the bearing rein of harness must be to 

 him a source of constant torture. In regarding, however, the length and the form of 

 the neck, reference must be had to the purpose for which the horse is intended. In a 

 hackney, few things can be more abominable than a neck so disproportioned — so long, 

 that the hand of the rider gets tired in managing the head of the horse. In a race- 

 horse, this lengthening of the neck is a decided advantage. 



Among the muscles employed in raising tlu^ head, are the complexus minores 

 (smaller complicated), and the recli (straight), and the oblifjue muscles of the upper 

 part of the neck, and belonging ])rincipally to the tv.o first bones of the neck, and 

 portions of which may be seen under the tendon of the ^plcnius c, and between it and 

 the ligament a. 



Among the muscles employed in lowering the head, some of which are given in 

 the same cut, is the sternu-maxillaris, f/, ])elonging to the breast-bone, and the upper 

 jaw. It can likewise be traced, although not quite distinctly, in the cut, p. 159. It 

 lies immediately under the skin. It arises from the cartilage prrjecting from, or con- 

 stituting the front of the breast-bone (H. p. 68), and proceeds up the neck, of no 

 great bulk or strength. At about three-fourlhs of its length upward, it changes to a 

 flat tendon, which is seen ((/, p. 125) to insinuate itself between the parotid and sub- 

 maxillary glands, in order to be inserted into the angle of the lower jaw. It is used 

 in bending the head towards the chest. 



Another muscle, the termination of which is seen, is tlie levator humeri, raiser of the 

 shoulder, b. This is a much larger muscle than the last, because it has more duty to 

 perform. It rises from the back of the head and four iirst bouts of the neck and the 

 ligament of the neck, and is carried down to the shoulder, mixing itself partly with 

 some of the muscles of the shoulder, and finally continued down to, and terminating 

 on, the humerus (.1, p. G8). Its office is double. If the horse is in action, and the 

 head and neck are fixed ])oints, tlie contraction of this muscle will draw forward the 

 shoulder and arm ; if the horse is standing, and the shoulder and arm are fixed points, 

 this muscle will depress the head and neck. 



The muscles of the neck are all in pairs. One of them is found on each side of the 

 neck, and the ofiice which has been attributed to them can only be accomplished when 

 both act together; but sujjposing that one alone of the elevating muscles should act, 

 the head would be raised, but it would at the same time be turned towards that side. 

 If one only of the depressor muscles were to act, the head would be bent downwards, 

 but it would likewise be turned towards that side. Then it will be easily seen, that 

 by this simple method of having the muscles in pairs, jirovision is made for every 

 kind of motion, upwards, downwards, or on either side, for which the animal can 

 possibly have occasion. Little more, of a practical nature, could be said of the 

 muscles of the neck, although they are projirr and interesting studies for the anato- 

 mist. 



Tliis is the proper place to speak of Me inane; that long hair which covers the crest 

 of the neck, and adds so much to the beauty of the animal. This, however, is not its 

 only praise. In a wild state, the horse has many battles to fight, and his neck, 

 deprived of the mane, would be a vulnerable part. The hair of the mane, the tail, 

 and the legs, is not shed in the same manner as that en the body. It does not fall so 

 regularly, nor so often ; for if all were shed at once, the parts would be left for a long 

 time defenceless. 



The mane is generally dressed so as to lie on the right side — some persons divide 

 ii equally on both sides. For ponies, it used to be cut efl" near the roots, only a few 

 stumps being left to stand perj>mdicularly. This was tenined the hog-mane. The 



